Mystery
by FairyV
Summary: Yuan puzzles over Kratos's growing attachment to his fiancee's brother. [oneshot]


**A/N:** This is a one-shot written for the 30hugs community on LJ. Chronologically, it occurs after _Oldest Friend_.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own _Tales of Symphonia_.

Kratos/Yuan hug #22 (ichi-go ichi-e)

**Mystery**

Two men and a boy sat in silence at the edge of the lake. Each stared intently at his make-shift float, bobbing gently in the otherwise still water. The setting summer sun cast an orange glow on their idyllic surroundings.

"This is boring."

The blue-haired man sighed and the auburn-haired man addressed the blond boy sitting beside him. "You must learn patience, Mithos. Life isn't all battles and competitions."

"But I don't see the point in this, Kratos," the boy muttered glumly, his shoulders slumped forward. "I mean, if it's food we need Yuan could electrify the entire lake and I could go swimming for the dead fish. That would be far more fun than just sitting on the shore."

Yuan chuckled quietly for a moment before he was silenced by a look from his red-haired companion.

"That would be an incredible waste, Mithos," Kratos chided. "There must be millions of life forms in this lake. And you would kill them all, for your own entertainment?"

Mithos looked up at his teacher momentarily, eyes wide, before dropping his head and looking down at his hands, which fidgeted nervously. "I guess not," he mumbled.

"They probably wouldn't taste very nice, anyway."

Two quizzical expressions were inclined towards Yuan.

"The fish," he clarified. "They'd probably end up overcooked, or even calcified."

"Yuan…" Kratos groaned, bringing his palm to his face.

"What?" Yuan was indignant. "I'm just thinking practically."

"You really know how to take the fun out of everything, Yuan." Mithos, losing interest in his fishing rod, turned to the pile of fish Kratos and Yuan had caught.

"You're not helping," Kratos told Yuan, quietly.

"These are ick," Mithos commented, as he held a slimy corpse and stared into its glassy eyes. "They look so…vacant."

"They're dead, Mithos."

"I know that, Yuan! I'm not stupid. There's just something really creepy about them."

Yuan gave a startled cry as two arms enveloped him from behind. A feminine giggle sounded in his ear.

"Gods, woman. Don't sneak up on me like that!" Despite his words, Yuan leaned back into his fiancée's arms and nuzzled his face against hers.

Out of the corner of his eye Kratos noticed Mithos's brows furrow.

"So how are my fearsome hunter-gatherers faring?" the young woman asked with a smile.

"I caught three fish," Mithos exclaimed excitedly, "but they wouldn't let me keep them."

"They were small. It wasn't necessary to keep them," said Kratos, still staring out at the water.

"Well, anyway, we've got four for dinner."

The woman let go of Yuan and stood above the afternoon's rewards, her pale green hair falling forward as she looked down. "They're quite a size. They'll do nicely. Want to come and help me prepare dinner, Mithos?"

"Sure!" The boy jumped up and grabbed the corners of the mat on which the fish lay.

"Aren't you guys coming, too?" He looked up at Kratos and Yuan.

"Go and help Martel. We'll be along in a while, " Kratos's deep voice replied.

Mithos shrugged and lifted the mat, running off to catch up with his sister.

Neither remaining man said anything for several minutes. Their friendship predominantly taciturn, both were content to enjoy the rare silence and respite from their eager young companion. They watched the spectrum of colours spreading across the sky and reflecting on the water as the sun dipped below the horizon.

In the preceding months their relationship had grown from wary and guarded to a comparatively comfortable comradeship. They were united by their personal oaths to protect Martel and Mithos. Their similarly stoic attitudes and inclination to suppress their emotions around one another put them curiously at ease.

Yuan had concluded some time ago that Kratos wasn't necessarily hiding anything from them, since there was clearly next to nothing of importance in Kratos's life. Equally, the man wasn't masking his emotions, like Yuan was, because he had none.

Kratos's developing relationship with Mithos therefore intrigued Yuan. Somewhere along the line Kratos had become a mentor, of sorts, to Mithos, guiding the boy in his sword skills, and generally being permitted to offer constructive criticism of Mithos's behaviour. Something about the authoritative, yet kindly, manner in which Kratos dealt with the boy was almost…paternal. Maybe that was overstating the situation somewhat, but Mithos certainly had more respect for Kratos than he did for Yuan. Although Kratos didn't vie with Mithos for Martel's affections.

"Do you think he'll ever appreciate the simple things in life? Nature's beauty, peace and quiet…." Yuan's lips curved into a slight smile as he looked round at Kratos.

"He's young and impetuous. To him the simple things are food, fun and unconditional love. One day he'll be as old and cynical as us."

Yuan snorted and raised his eyebrows. "Speak for yourself! I just hope he learns soon that silence is golden."

Kratos cleared his throat to hide a smirk. "He does have one enviable quality though, don't you think?"

"What's that?"

"His innocence. Don't be eager for him to grow up too quickly."

Yuan was thoughtful for a moment. "It might be nice for him to establish some new attachments, though," he said quietly.

"You and I both know that's not going to happen any time soon." Kratos's voice grated slightly.

Both men were silent for a while longer, their faces unreadable in the dimming light.

Kratos broke the silence. "You were referring to his attachment to Martel?"

Yuan shifted uncomfortably. For someone so loath to reveal his own feelings, Kratos had an uncanny knack of putting other people on the spot. "It's not that I don't want him around. It's just…you know how hard it is for Martel and me to spend time alone. And it's not fair for you to have to play babysitter all the time."

Yuan would have seen a humoured sparkle in Kratos's eyes, had he been looking.

"If I remember correctly, the last time we engineered some _quality time_ between you and Martel," he began with a pointed look, "you wasted it _talking_."

"For pity's sake, Kratos, why do you always have to be so crass about this?" Yuan cried, turning to face Kratos's derisive look with one of passionate outrage. "Why is it so hard to believe that two people can be in love and merely enjoy one another's company? Besides, she's not some tavern wench," he added with an equally pointed look.

Kratos chose not to rise to the bait, instead allowing his amusement to reach the corners of his mouth.

Damn him, thought Yuan. Why do I let him wind me up about Martel? As he watched Kratos he noticed the slight smile turn sour.

"Love," Kratos spat.

Yuan wasn't surprised to hear Kratos denounce the prospect of becoming close to someone.

"Yes; _love_. That once in a lifetime opportunity to really connect with someone you care about," Yuan said levelly. "You ought to try it some time, Kratos. You might actually like it."

Kratos's expression was completely blank for a moment as he considered Yuan's words.

"You're lucky, then, to have found that 'once in a lifetime opportunity' so soon. But some people aren't made to love, Yuan, and some don't require the love of another to live a fulfilled existence."

Yuan wasn't sure how to read Kratos at that moment. He hadn't meant to offend the man. Well, no more than Kratos had already offended Yuan. Despite his flat tone, Kratos was being remarkably verbose on this matter. Was he talking about himself, though? Yuan guessed he wouldn't find out tonight, as Kratos stood and dusted off his trousers before gathering up the rods.

But one day, Yuan vowed, he would get to the bottom of the mystery surrounding this man called Kratos.


End file.
